“T-thanks.” The black haired woman seemed a little bit overwhelmed with Emily’s openness. She almost froze for a few seconds every time they held continued eye contact.
“I hope that you’ll one day be confident in your thoughts and feelings. You don’t need my permission to speak,” the smiling woman said to Olivia, shocking her once more. It felt to her as if Emily could read her mind just by looking at her. She awkwardly turned herself away from Emily, trying not to worry her.
“You're just like she was…” Emily whispered before being abruptly taken aback as Gieldan disrupted the situation.
“It begins!” he said in a concerned tone.
He gave hand signals to follow him towards the adjacent staircase. Unobtrusively they walked down the individual stairs like an ant colony as loud cheering could be heard from the end of the staircase.
“It seems like the intel we got wasn’t wrong. Are you sure we can allow ourselves such a detour?” Gieldan questioned his partner. “We might have bit off more than we can chew on.”
“I have to see it for myself, Gieldan. If what they said was true then I don’t have another choice.” Emily halted and confirmed the situation with Olivia.
“D-don’t worry. I don’t want to b-back down either,” she replied, almost sounding self-assured.
With a nod from Emily, the group proceeded downwards. As they reached the end of the stairs, they entered what looked like a large, empty hall at first glance. The area felt like a crypt that was built deep below the surface level of the building. Wide and far was nothing but stone plates, leaving the impression of a dungeon, with a giant hole in the middle of the room. This one was the only thing surrounded by pillars that lead up to the ceiling. Decorated with the same golden candlesticks they've come to expect from the upper levels. The mysterious, robe-wearing cultists had all gathered at the stone railing of the hole, looking downward with excitement.
“I have a bad feeling about this, Emily,” Gieldan whispered to the two women, as his hands caressed his dagger.
“Calm down. We will take a quick peek, and if it's too dangerous we can still leave,” Emily answered as she pushed the group closer to the hole.
They herded up together next to one of the stone pillars and looked down into the pit. Olivia felt the apparent storm that was brewing in the atmosphere as the cheering went on, bordering on madness. The uneasiness inside her was slowly transforming itself into fear, while the hairs on her body began to stand up.
Out of nowhere, a man appeared inside the pit raising his voice. “My dearest followers and loving family of brethren.” Covered by his robe, his arms went into the air, and he welcomed the cultists with a bright smile. “It's time we went back to our roots…”
Emily wasn't really interested in his words and started to examine the surroundings. In her mind, the pit resembled an arena as she spotted massive metal gates on both sides of the circle. The walls were high enough so that a normal human being would not be able to climb them, but still close enough for the sightseeing bystanders to see everything up close.
In the middle stood a statue of an imp, upon which the announcer had jumped effortlessly to continue his introduction. Olivia’s face went more pale by the moment, as it began to dawn on them what was about to happen. Just as they looked around, still in shock, the gates were opening with a slow crawl. Out of them a man and woman lurched into the pit, seemingly worn out and beaten up. Their feet and hands were chained together as if they were wild animals, robed only in the necessities to cover their modesty. Their chains were long enough to move around in the arena, at least as far as their weakened feet could take them on the dried up earth beneath them.
“This shall be your first step into becoming an honorable member of our ranks. Letting the forces of Despair join the wonderful Akeyanaru, but not so fast. For I am to remind you that my grandmaster has sent me to judge the entertaining spectacle you've prepared today and see for myself whether you’re truly worthy.” A flash of his bright grin could be seen underneath his hood
“But now let me ask you – Aren’t you tired of the endless torturing of these worthless worms? The meaningless killing of those that deserve it anyway? Shouldn't they just fall on their own, breaking their precious necks like they should?! Well, not today! Today your master has prepared quite a special attraction. Though, I don’t know how you knew it, is actually one of my favorites,” he winked at the crowd as he went on leaving them even more ecstatic than before.
Emily’s face was abuzz with contempt as they were listening to his words. Gieldan already shook his head at Emily as he felt her blood boiling.
The announcer continued. “I believe all of you know how incredibly difficult it is to capture Persona, and especially humans, from the safe haven of the big cities.” The crowd nodded and mumbled in agreement.
“BUT!” He raised his index finger. “You have accomplished such a rare feat, even though it was excruciatingly hard work, but you actually did it. For the first time ever I can present you with a loving couple. Our fine guests that freshly arrived from Lust’s city.” The crowd erupted into maniac cries of joy and applause.
With all her self-restraint, Emily tried to suppress her urge to attack them immediately. The hall was roaring as the Personas in the arena frowned shell-shockingly. Torches were lighting up on the stone railing, setting the mood.
“What the hell do you want from us?!” the chained man yelled as he desperately tried to climb the imp statue, but to no avail.
“What have we done to you?! We don't even know you!” the woman asked while her eyes were tearing up.
“Now, now, my dear. Nothing of the sorts, actually it's quite the opposite. You have been honored to be one of our highlights at this grand festival,” the announcer spoke in a fake understanding tonality.
“You sick bastards, where are you from?!” the man yelled at them again. “If word gets out to Lord Lust you will…”
“Zti zti zti zti,” giggled the man in the robe on top of the statue. “If my grandmaster accepts these fine gentlemen as one of his trusted allies, then no one will be able to save you. Especially not that frivolously sin called Lust. I would appreciate it if you weren't hindering our progress of this show any further. Even my patience has its limits,” he paused and took a deep breath for his next proclamation.
“IT'S THE GRANDIOSE FIGHT TO THE DEATH BETWEEN TWO LOVERS! One will painfully fail and die, while the last one standing will be able to retain his freedom. Who knows, maybe the survivor even makes it back to Lussuria. May we wish them luck in their oncoming fight.”
“Suck it!”
“NEVER!” both prisoners protested.
“I see,” the announcers grin transformed into a malicious chuckle.
“I believe you don't quite realize your current situation. You two have a CHOICE. Either one of you will give their life for the other. Or we will simply torture both of you until you wish you were dead.” He snapped his fingers and pointed at the audience. “Honestly, I don't think they care either way,” he pointed at the roaring cultists.
“We let both of you choose, out of the kindness of our hearts. You should go ahead and accept that. That is what an honorable citizen would do. But don't take too long… my empathy is dwindling by the moment.”
He pulled out a golden amulet from underneath his robe which was engraved with an elegant looking fox, which he started to swing back and forth. “I want to see some sort of decision being made when this amulet comes to a halt. Otherwise you're just boring the ones who worked so hard for all of this. The moment the pendulum stops will be the end for both of you. It's your own choice, tzi tzi.”
The light in their eyes vanished in seconds as their minds went blank. Tears were rolling down their faces uncontrollably as they were completely helpless against their opponent. This was not a situation you could pull through with determination or teamwork. They knew, if they aren't playing by their rules, their death was not the only thing that was assured
.
The woman sank onto her knees, and her sad screams echoed throughout the arena while she began to frantically scratch her cheeks. Filled with terror, the man was aghast, looking down on his shaking hands. The amulet was already beginning to lose tempo.
“I… I ju-just have… t-to kill her… t-to be free?!” he mumbled eventually.
“That's right, buddy. That's all we ask of you. Until her lifeless body stops moving. Even a last twitching muscle shall be forgiven,” the man laughed from atop the statue.
“How can you demand something like that from us?!” the woman screamed as she raised her head. “We love each other! No one will do anything. So, fuck off and die you wretched monstrosities!” She stood up before the blood-hungry mob, giving them a piece of her mind.
“Bothersome little pest,” whispered the man in the robe, spiteful.
“You pieces of filth disgust me.” She spat on the ground and bent her arms as if she wanted to tell the masses that she wasn't going down without a fight. With a slight confident smile she turned her head towards her lover. “Hey Andrey, can you believe them?! As if we would partake in their sick game. We have worked through worse things, haven’t we?”
Just as she started to talk, the man started to slowly take one step after another into her direction.
“Andrey? What's th-” her eyes widened out of fright.
“I-i'm s-so, s-so s-s-sorry, S-Silvya. THERE IS NO OTHER CHOICE!” It sounded like his voice was about to break down with every passing moment while his whole body shook.
“Hey Andrey, what are you planning?!”
“P-please forg-g-ive me.” The tears were running down his face, as he started running towards his lover in a scream of desperation. From up above it seemed like he held a loose stone in his hands that he had gathered in the arena.
“YOU FUCKING HYPOCRITE! I KNEW IT! AS IF YOU COULD BE SORRY FOR ANYONE BUT YOURSELF!” she screamed at him at the top of her lungs, while he prepared himself to strike.
“Zti zti zti, I love it when their true character shines through. All they need is a little push in the right direction,” jolted the figure in the robe at the top.
Under shock, both Emily and Olivia witnessed what was happening. Olivia covered her eyes and turned away at the last second, while Emily was already past her boiling point.
“How dare they… They will pay for that!”
“No, Emily!” Gieldan grabbed her and directed Ansia to do the same with Olivia. “We're getting out of here. This clearly is something we cannot handle.”
“WHAT?! No-” Gieldan covered her mouth with his hand. Protected by the sounds of the arena, they tried to leave the room without anyone noticing. Olivia tried her best to squinch her eyes shut, now also covering her ears as Ansia was carrying her away. It was pointless. The cries of joy and whistling tuned out her heartbeat, which already felt like it was about to explode. Eventually, they could hear something that penetrated every other sound in the arena. It was the sound of a hard, blunt object hitting a mass of flesh, over and over again. Nothing helped. Olivia flinched with every sound she couldn’t tune out. Though, the only one noticing their strange behavior was the man on top of the Imp statue, which he responded to with a light giggle.
“Looks like some cockroaches have infested the place. I wonder how your underlings will deal with them, Despair?” the announcer thought while looked down onto the two former lovers. He giggled as he watched how the events of the fight concluded.
Covered in the blood of her lover, the female Persona kneeled over his lifeless body, after she had overwhelmed and clubbed him to death with his own stone.
“These truly are quite engaging times, tzi tzi tzi.”
Meanwhile, the two aspects managed to safely escort their partners outside of the building. Gieldan looked back on the terrifying place that looked like a giant mausoleum while carrying Emily. It had been build and embedded into the side of a large mountainside. Not one of them would've guessed what terrifying things were going on inside or how deep its tunnels would run. Gieldan thought that none of them would ever want to find out again until Emily freed herself after trashing about on Gieldan’s shoulder.
“What are you doing?! We have to help those people!”
“EMILY, WHEN WILL YOU FINALLY COME TO YOUR SENSES?!” Gieldan seemed to be really upset for the first time since they had met.
“We don't even know how many of them are in there. We don't have the slightest clue of what awaits us inside. We can't just march in there, dying for nothing while trying to play the hero.”
“So, you're saying we should just let them be a victim of their fate?” Emily was stunned, even though Gieldan seemed legitimately concerned about her well-being. Ansia was comforting Olivia in the meantime as she started to hyperventilate, gasping for air. The aspect tenderly stroke over her black locks and whispered into her ear, while Gieldan and Emily continued to argue in the background.
“Stop being so goddamn stubborn, Emily,” he disputed as both of them went to go on being louder and louder. “It doesn't make sense to rescue these people. Hell, we don't even know if there are any humans left that we could rescue. Why do you want so desperately to risk your life for a few people, or even Personas? Those irrelevant facets?!”
“That makes it even more important!” she objected. “Don't you see it?! They are just like us. They laugh, they cry, they have dreams, they have lovers. They are not like us - they are us,” Emily countered with vigorous demeanor as she stepped towards her aspect.
“Ksk,” Gieldan bit his lip and yelled inflamed with rage. “SO YOU WANT TO SAVE THEM ALL, YES?!” He stepped before Emily with his imposing stature, as she stared back at him with her serious gaze. Gieldan got closer until they finally were meeting face to face. So close that their eyelashes could almost touch each other, while he aggressively pressed his forehead onto hers.
“Saving someone will always mean that you can't save another one. It's hypocrisy without its equal. It’s diseased with false ideals. You will be no heroine. You will belong to the scum of the earth, just like everybody else. You will be the first to die or the one to survive and suffer for all eternity. You will still hate yourself, and there will never be something as a 'happy ending' waiting for you! You will suffer! Do you understand me?!”
She said nothing and continued her stare.
“FOR THE LAST TIME. DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME LITTLE HUMAN?!” he screamed, more in grief than in anger.
Her eyes still didn't move an inch as both were staring at each other with determination. Her bright brown eyes were burning, as if they were engulfed in flames, ready to devour everything in her path, without ever fading out. She was not flinching, even though Emily’s legs were shaking the whole time. Olivia and Ansia were under the impression that no one wanted to give in, but to their surprise, Gieldan eventually sighed as he couldn't stand Emily’s energetic gaze any longer and closed his eyes.
“So you really want to walk this dark path at all cost? I won't be there to save you when it's too late. I can’t save you from yourself. You'll be the one to choose this path on your own,” he said, and Emily replied with a smile. “Geez, how close-minded can one human actually be? Selfishly chasing after your own ideals to the bitter end,” the aspect paused to turn around so that the two women couldn't see him smiling. “You should consider yourself lucky that I’m quite into lost cases like yourself.”
The aspect seemed to have calmed himself down. Almost as if they were two sultry flames that needed each other in order to inflame themselves to even greater heights than before.
Just as Gieldan wanted to start walking again, Emily went to his side and placed her forehead gently onto his, just like he did before.
She looked him deep in the eyes and answered. “We humans are weak, Gieldan…” A single tear slowly made its way down on her right cheek as she tried her best to keep up her bright smile. “We don't carry weapons out of free will. We get angry easily over the most tiny and absurd things.
We die even more easily and even if we act like all these bad things in our world don't bother us, we still search for love and affection at the end of the day.” She sobbed slightly. “I don't even want to imagine what someone had to go through who couldn't experience things like that. I can't just leave them… which is why I am begging you, Gieldan. I’m begging you to lend me your strength.”
The aspect started to laugh and continued their conversation in a narcissistic tone. “Ha, then so it shall be, little lady. But one day your downfall will be inevitable. Keep that in mind, and I will follow you until your bitter end.”
“Thanks, Gieldan,” she said feeling encouraged and wiped away her tears before hugging her aspect. “I know you worry about me, but in this moment right now, we are the ones who have to take the first step. Otherwise, no one ever will. It may sound unfair, but as soon as we try to help, we can achieve something. If worse comes to worse I will rely on your strength,” she concluded with a cackle.
“Hmpf, I had a feeling you would say that,” he smiled back at her. “I figure you have some sort of plan at least?”
“Somewhat.” Emily started to explain while trying to sound like her usual self. Olivia could only marvel at their chemistry.
“Since most of the mausoleum seems too embedded into this mountain, I wondered if there may be more ways to enter the building, or rather, other tunnels,” she suggested.
“You think there may even be a sewage line around here?” Gieldan asked her, as they both seemed to be thinking the same thing.
Shortly afterward the aspect rushed to search the area from the outside, while the two women waited a few yards away from the building. Around the terrifying crypt stood an old city that looked like it was once prospering, but had fallen into ruin many years ago. In a battered, abandoned house they waited for Gieldan’s return that followed a few moments later.
Death's Gambling Page 16
